'opposite-direction' originates from English, specifically the combination of the adjective 'opposite' and the noun 'direction'.

'opposite' originates from Latin 'oppositus' (past participle of 'opponere'), and 'direction' originates from Latin 'directio' (from 'dirigere'); the two English words were combined in modern English to form the compound 'opposite direction' (later hyphenated in some uses as 'opposite-direction').

Initially, 'opposite' and 'direction' had their independent senses ('placed against' and 'a course or line'), and when combined the compound came to mean 'a course directly reversed from another'.